Community

Allies in Youth Development

INTERNATIONAL AID

Often isolated and lacking the love and resources to be successful adults, Russian orphans are at a disadvantage when they leave orphanage care. Allies in Youth Development, a Mansfield-based nonprofit, is working to change things. Tatiana Baeva, left, a UT Arlington Russian language lecturer, is director of Russian operations for the organization. She and UTA students travel to Russia to teach and mentor orphans while supporting local Russian university students who work with the children regularly. Allies in Youth Development also collects essential items for transitional homes, which typically house 20-40 children ages 4-18 before they’re sent to orphanages or returned to their families. Elizabeth Wilson, an international business junior, traveled with a small student group last year. “It was a good chance to experience the culture firsthand,” she says. “Meeting those children who have so little and yet were so happy to have us there was beautiful.”